Your physical lab environment looks secure; now it’s time to take a more granular approach to design, advises Ricky Williams. Small changes reap big gains.

Laboratory design is often discussed in terms of major infrastructure: ventilation, utilities, key equipment specification and compliance. Those elements are clearly important but, in day-to-day practice, the difference between a laboratory that works efficiently and one that creates constant friction often comes down to smaller details. Bench depth, working height, storage placement, zoning, access for cleaning and the positioning of furniture within the available footprint all have a direct impact on hygiene, safety and productivity.

In an ideal world, every laboratory would be designed around its intended function. However, in reality, many laboratories operate in older buildings that were not designed for modern scientific workflows or have been altered over many years to accommodate new teams, new processes and new equipment. Walls cannot easily be moved, doorways are fixed and core infrastructure elements such as HVAC systems restrict what can be changed and improved.

In these environments, the careful specification of hygienic furniture and the detailed planning of layout become especially important, because small, well-considered changes can generate significant operational gains.

Workflow begins with layout

A successful laboratory layout should support a logical and hygienic flow of people, materials and waste. That sounds straightforward, but older or heavily adapted lab spaces often reveal how easily this flow can be compromised.

In one hospital laboratory, for example, a preparation area intended for cleaning and sorting equipment before transfer into a cleaner environment had gradually become an informal storage zone.

Benches were cluttered with boxes made of cardboard and other inappropriate materials, reducing usable workspace and introducing unnecessary hygiene and fire risks.

In another case, a storage room had five separate external doors, creating multiple access points and increasing the potential for uncontrolled movement, confusion and cross-contamination.

These examples illustrate a wider point: every area within the wider laboratory environment should be considered in relation to adjacent spaces and activities.

Preparation rooms, changing or gowning areas, wash-up zones, storage rooms and laboratory workspaces should not be treated as isolated functions. They form part of a wider operational sequence. If dirty items pass too close to clean equipment, if users have to backtrack repeatedly to collect consumables, or if waste exits via the same route used for incoming clean materials, the layout works against the process rather than supporting it.

Zoning is more than a line on a plan

Effective zoning is one of the most valuable tools in laboratory design to support contamination control and an overarching hygienic culture. Depending on what is going on within a laboratory, segregation may be needed between wet and dry activities, dirty and clean processes, noisy and quiet work or gowning and operational areas. In regulated environments, this aligns with the broader principle seen in standards such as ISO 14644 and GMP guidance: contamination control depends on the whole environment working together, not on any lab fit-out | laboratory environment single control measure in isolation.

Where staff are required to leave their workstation repeatedly to retrieve routine items, work surfaces quickly become informal storage areas

But zoning only works if it is made practical for the people using the space. A barrier point, such as a bench, is not just for guidance: it needs to be physically obvious and impossible to ignore. In changing or gowning rooms, for example, a well-designed and wellpositioned seating bench will be a physical transition between a dirty and clean side. Storage for PPE, hand hygiene points and even simple details such as a clearly visible wall-mounted holder for disinfectant spray can make the correct route through the space feel intuitive. This is where design begins to support behaviour. If the right action is also the easiest action, compliance becomes more consistent. As well as clothing changes, the crossover from one side to another marks a switch in attitude for the laboratory worker.

Furniture matters

The design, dimensions and placement of laboratory furniture influence how people work, how easily spaces can be cleaned and how well workflows are maintained over time. Bench height, for example, affects posture, fatigue and precision. Heightadjustable workstations can be valuable in shared spaces or where some tasks are better performed seated and others standing. Similarly, bench depth and under-bench storage design affect reach, visibility and whether items are properly stored and organised or left on work surfaces.

Storage design is not only about capacity, but placement. Consumables, PPE and frequently used items should be positioned as close as practical to the point of use. Where staff are required to leave their workstation repeatedly to retrieve routine items, work surfaces quickly become informal storage areas. Over time, this leads to clutter, reduces available working space and can undermine both hygiene and efficiency. In many cases, this is not due to a lack of storage, but because storage is not located where it supports the task. Well-positioned storage encourages correct behaviour by making the right action the easiest one.

Spacing also matters. Walkways should allow people and equipment to move through the laboratory without awkward manoeuvring. If a trolley cannot turn a corner in one movement, staff lose time in repeated back-and-forth adjustments, while the risk of collisions, contact with surfaces and process disruption increases. These may seem like minor frustrations but, if repeated many times across a working day, they can become a significant drag on efficiency. Where space is at a premium, layout decisions should be based not only on whether furniture fits, but whether it leaves sufficient space around it for staff to work comfortably and efficiently.

Airflow is another key consideration. In controlled environments, furniture can interfere with the movement of air and create dead spaces where particles and residues settle. Solid-backed benches, storage units and even people working close to air vents can quickly make clean air less clean.

The importance of access for cleaning and maintenance should never be downplayed. If furniture is positioned too close to walls or fixed services, routine cleaning becomes more difficult and less reliable. Good hygienic design avoids inaccessible voids and dirt traps, either by fully enclosing to floor level or by allowing sufficient clearance for cleaning beneath and around the unit. Listen to your cleaning team. If your laboratory furniture doesn’t look easy to clean then, at the very least, it will take longer to clean. Every extra minute of cleaning is a minute less of productivity.

However, in reality, many laboratories operate in older buildings that were not designed for modern scientific workflows or have been altered over many years to accommodate new teams, new processes and new equipment

When it comes to furniture selection, flexibility matters too. Laboratories rarely remain static. New instruments, revised workflows and changing research priorities mean that layouts often need to evolve over time. Modular, movable and reconfigurable furniture allows spaces to adapt without requiring costly and disruptive refurbishment. Solutions such as cupboards on lockable castors, adjustable or removable shelving and free-standing units make it possible to reconfigure layouts quickly while maintaining hygiene standards and operational continuity. Rather than stripping out and replacing fixed installations, laboratories can respond to change by adapting what is already in place.

Planning ahead delivers better outcomes

Many of the challenges seen in laboratory environments can be traced back to decisions made before a space is ever commissioned. While furniture specification is important, the most effective laboratories begin with detailed space planning and workflow analysis.

Understanding how people, materials and equipment move through a space allows layouts to be designed around real operational requirements, rather than assumptions. This includes considering how equipment and functions work alongside each other, what storage is required at the point of use and how future changes might be accommodated.

Specialist laboratory planning expertise can be particularly valuable at this stage. A structured review of workflow, zoning and space utilisation helps ensure that furniture and storage solutions support both current needs and future flexibility. Without this earlystage thinking, even well-designed furniture can end up working against the process it is intended to support.

Detail makes design work

The most successful laboratories are not always the ones with the largest footprints or newest buildings. They are often those where layout and furniture have been considered in detail: where zones are clear, furniture is perfect for purpose and cleaning access is protected. Furniture should do more than provide workspace or storage: it should actively support hygiene and efficient workflow.

When laboratory managers and designers pay close attention to the small details, they create spaces that are easier to use and easier to keep compliant.

And it’s those small changes that deliver the biggest gains.

• Ricky Williams is head of sector sales for laboratories at Teknomek. He previously held a senior role at two leading London life science hubs